At the start of July Notre Dame and Brigham Young were college football independents, blissfully without full-time conference membership.

Before the end of the month, just BYU was. And, the bliss was fast fading.

While both are currently undefeated, it is not a coincidence that the one that opted to quickly join a conference (the Fighting Irish) is smack dab in the College Football Playoff national championship picture while the other (BYU) has its nose pressed to the outside glass looking in.

In the CFP’s first set of rankings announced on Tuesday, Notre Dame (8-0) is second behind only Alabama while BYU (9-0) is 14th, behind even 6-2 Iowa State, the 13th-ranked team. The top four in the final rankings next month earn berths and tons of money in the championship playoffs.

When the pandemic hit and looked to be around for a while, the Fighting Irish quickly saw the handwriting on the wall, correctly gauging that they could be left without a viable schedule if opponents began cutting back on games.

So, Notre Dame went to work on a one-year deal with Atlantic Coast Conference, where they have had a tie-in, to become a full member for the 2020 season.

But not all independents are created equal. So, while BYU had discussions with the MWC, which it fled in a fit of pique after 2011, the Cougars were unable to hammer out a similar deal and remained an independent with all the uncertainties that came with it.

Then, as the impact of COVID-19 deepened and leagues began restricting their teams to conference-only matchups, the Cougars lost six games to cancellations. It effectively sliced the meat out of their schedule (Utah, Michigan State, Minnesota, Arizona State, Missouri and Stanford), while the Fighting Irish had a full, 10-game ACC slate to play.

While the Fighting Irish have subsequently had only a one-game interruption, BYU was left to cast around for whoever it could get. And some of the pickings were exceedingly slim (North Alabama, Texas State, Western Kentucky etc.).

Give BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe credit for securing nine games at all. But while Notre Dame has a resume-enhancing victory over Clemson, BYU’s most notable achievement was the win over Boise State, one that some selection committee members apparently too heavily devalued due to the Broncos’ injuries.

The result is that BYU isn’t even the highest ranked among non-Power Five members. That distinction belongs to Cincinnati (8-0), which the CFP committee installed at No. 7.

But, then, the Bearcats are the front-runners in the American Athletic Conference with opportunities to further enhance their credentials with two more nationally ranked opponents, Tulsa and whoever it draws in the AAC championship game. BYU currently has just San Diego State remaining.

Had BYU worked out a deal with the MWC it might have still lost some games, of course and still trailed Notre Dame. But a better bet is that the Cougars would be standing before the CFP committee next month on more equal footing with Cincinnati and a good shot at being the conference champions with a real path to a New Year’s Day bowl.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.